Cowboys XC Takes Home Third at NCAAs, Cowgirl Taylor Roe Finishes Second

(Oklahoma State athletics media relations contributed to this article)

STILLWATER – It’s an exciting day for Oklahoma State as hosted the 2021 NCAA Cross Country National Championship in Stillwater, OK. It marks the first time Oklahoma State has hosted this event.

As for the Cowboys, they finished in an impressive third place, give the Pokes their first podium finish since 2013.

For the fifth-consecutive meet, Isai Rodriguez was the first Cowboy finisher. The 2019 All American will be honored as an All American once again after he crossed the line in eighth place in a time of 30:08.3, the fifth fastest 10K time ever recorded on the OSU Cross Country Course.

“I knew I was to expect going in, but you have to come in mentally ready for whatever,” Rodriguez said. “I was just holding on for most of the race and trying to catch as many people as possible. I was further behind and then I started catching people. I ended up finishing eighth, which I'm grateful for but I’m going to keep working and keep getting better.”

Joining Rodriguez in the top-40, sophomore Alex Maier’s 17th place finish scored major points for the Cowboys. The sophomore earned his first-career All-American honors thanks to a 30:23.2 finish.

The rest of the Cowboys’ scorers all finished within the top-100. Ryan Smeeton (30:30.8) crossed the line in 26th, Victor Shitsama (30:40.5) ended the day in 34th and Kevin Mulcaire (31:17.0) rounded out the Cowboys’ front-five in 80th.

As for the Cowgirls, they also had a podium finisher that brought bring home the silver.

“I am just really surprised and grateful,” Taylor Roe said. “That’s the best way to describe it. This really isn't going to sink in and probably won't for a few months. I probably won’t realize what just happened for a while. I couldn’t be more grateful for Dave and Anna and everyone here at Oklahoma State.”

Oklahoma State Athletics

Roe was second individually in the women’s competition.

Taylor Roe, a sophomore out of Lake Stevens (WIS) High School, finished in second place with a time of 20:06.7, roughly five seconds behind Alabama’s Mercy Chelangant, who finished with a time of 20:01.1.

The time posted by Roe beats her personal best while at Oklahoma State in the 6000m by nearly a full second.

Here is the list of how the other Cowgirls finished.

• 54.) Molly Born: 21:05.6
• 163.) Sivan Auerbach: 21:59.0
• 206.) Rilee Rigdon: 22:32.7
• 227.) Heidi Demeo: 22:49.0
• 244.) Lilly Lavier: 23:15.8
• 250.) Gabby Hentemann: 23:55.3

The Cowgirls finished ranked in 24th-place.